Locals in Delhi’s Shahadra loot mangoes from a fruit seller’s crates

According to the police, the mango seller, who wished to remain anonymous, had come to Shahadra and had put up his cart under a tree, when some cycle rickshaw pullers also arrived at the spot.

delhiUpdated: May 23, 2020 02:14 IST

HT Correspondent

Hindustan Times, New Delhi

(Reuters file photo)

A group of locals on Thursday afternoon looted mangoes from a few crates that a fruit vendor had left behind following a quarrel with some rickshaw pullers in Shahadra. Police on Friday registered a case of robbery and have identified some of the miscreants who robbed the fruit seller, senior officials said.

According to the police, the mango seller, who wished to remain anonymous, had come to Shahadra and had put up his cart under a tree, when some cycle rickshaw pullers also arrived at the spot.

“The vendor asked the rickshaw pullers to park a little ahead of his cart. This led to an argument between him and the rickshaw pullers, who then called some locals too to the spot for help. On this, the fruit seller fled the area with his cart and left few crates of mangoes behind,” said a senior police officer.

Later, a few local residents and passersby stopped by the crates and asked the rickshaw pullers where the fruit vendor was. “On this, the rickshaw pullers apparently told them that they could have the mangoes for free as the seller has fled the area. They even called other locals and told them to take the mangoes,” the police officer said.

Soon a crowd gathered at the spot and emptied out the crates and fled with the mangoes.

A video of the incident was shared widely on social media on Friday. The video shows at least 30-40 people crowding around the mango crates in violation of all social distancing norms. The traffic on the road was also affected because of locals who had gathered to collect the mangoes.

The fruit seller on Friday told police that at least ₹30,000 worth mangoes were looted from morebthan 8-10 crates of fruits he had left behind.

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahadra) Amit Sharma said the incident was reported to the police and the mango vendor was tracked. “We assured him of action and on his complaint, we have registered a case of robbery. We have identified 2-3 miscreants and efforts are on to nab them,” the DCP said.